Ash Cave Ice Cone #2

Ash Cave
Hocking Hills State Park

I couldn't take it any more. I had to get out and shoot this weekend. After seeing a recent post from a friend on Facebook I decided it was time to go make the trip to Hocking Hills to shoot the massive Ash Cave Ice Cone, and half the fun was getting there.

Sunday morning it took us 3 1/2 hours to drive the 120 miles into Central, Ohio as there was a winter storm advisory throughout the state and the deeper we went into the state the worse conditions got. Chillicothe was a mess and I was concerned the road between there and Ash Cave was going to be a challenge. Well, it wasn't that bad, just a slow pace. But once we got onto the road about 4 miles from our destination it was quite clear that this was going to turn into a challenge as we were the first car to drive on a completely untreated road, undaunted we continued on. Before long we came to a steep hill and I attempted to ascend it to no avail, I was slipping about halfway up the hill. So I backed down. I would also like to say "thank you" to the fella who came down the hill and didn't bother to slow down or anything when I was slipping and sliding going backwards in my lane. So we went back to the corner gas station. Along the way we passed a plow, who wasn't plowing the main road but did turn off and begin plowing a side road. Lisa suggested we follow it, but I wasn't sure where it was going. After I confirmed the road would take us the back way to Ash Cave we shot up the back road slipping and sliding up the hill, grabbing just enough traction to make it to the top. We drove over the ridge and then easily descended to the Ash Cave parking lot. There's nothing I like better than being the only car in the lot. We walked back the short path and we couldn't believe our eyes, Ash Cave is impressive in it's own right, but put a 50 ft. tall blue pillar of ice in it and it's simply mind blowing! After spending and hour and 1/2 shooting it from all angles off we went, it had started to rain and we didn't feel like dealing with that so we headed home, bucket list item accomplished. I'll have a post or two more of this spectacular phenomenon over the next couple days.